New Delhi: A sharp 12 per cent fall in the prices of vegetables could pull down inflation only marginally to 7.3 per cent for the week ended November 27 as manufactured products became bit costlier due to higher prices of diesel that forms the bulk of transportation costs.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation fell marginally by 0.04 per cent from the previous week's level of 7.34 per cent, prompting Finance Minister P Chidambaram to say "worst is over" on price line, which was 5.49 per cent a year ago.

However, the latest reported inflation figures have not factored in the increased freight tariffs effected by Indian Railways from November 27 mainly due to rising fuel costs and in accordance with the decision, many steel giants deciding to hike output prices.

The WPI was down by 0.3 per cent to 189.6 points even as fuel prices remained unchanged notwithstanding nervousness in the global crude prices, which ranged between $ 49-50 a barrel during the week in review mainly due to higher winter demand from the US. The index was 176.7 points in the previous year period.

Government again revised downwards the point-to-point WPI inflation to 7.15 per cent during the week ended October 2, 2004 as compared to the provisional level of 7.20 per cent.

The final WPI stood corrected at 188.9 points during the first week of October as against the provisional 189 points.